Land of possibility

In 2014, paediatrician Robbie Tait moved from Sydney to the Northern Territory with a goal to improve health inequality. What he received in return was far more than he hoped for – advanced career opportunities, dramatic landscapes… and love.

First dates are nerve-racking enough without having the added pressure of asking your date to fly 3972 kilometres to spend a long weekend in a city they’d never visited before. Robbie Tait and Kylie Ella weren’t total strangers – they’d met through mutual friends and both worked in Sydney at the same time – but by the time they reconnected at a friend’s wedding in Bali, he was living in the Northern Territory, working as a paediatric consultant at Royal Darwin Hospital while running his own private practice, Darwin Paediatrics.

“I remember thinking, ‘I have nothing to lose’, so I invited her to spend three days with me in the Territory,” says Robbie, who grew up in Johannesburg and moved to Australia in 2008. “There’s incredible national parks here so we drove out to Litchfield and Kakadu, swam in waterholes, went kayaking and had a picnic at Berry Springs.” Neither had gambled before but on a whim, they visited the casino and won $300. “We spent the whole lot on cheese and wine,” says Robbie, laughing.

Three days turned into 10 and two months later Kylie packed up her life in Sydney and moved to Darwin. “I was captivated,” she says. “Obviously, the romance helped but I fell in love with the Territory quickly. The food is incredible, the people are welcoming and the landscape is a huge drawcard.”

Through Robbie, Kylie had also seen first-hand how advantageous the career prospects in the Territory can be. At 38, Robbie is one of Darwin’s youngest specialists and has had experiences other doctors his age can only dream of: community work in Groote Eylandt and East Arnhem Land; senior advisory roles; and the opportunity to open a private practice. Kylie, too, feels like she’s been given a fast track.

“I’d just finished my Masters in Public Health and quickly landed a management job at an NGO in mental health,” she says. “If I was going for such a position in Sydney, I may not have even got an interview. This job has propelled my career so much.” Both credit these career advances not just to the smaller talent pool but to the Territory’s tight-knit, supportive community.

“If you want to take on a challenge, this is the place to do it,” says Robbie. “You don’t often hear the word ‘no’ and people go out of their way to be hospitable. You can make a huge impact here.”